Birdseye view
by ClaireStar
Summary: NEW: SHANE. Some things about the group in Season One didn't really add up, did they? Learn the truth. Morales, T-Dog, Merle, Dale, Glenn, Jacqui, Jim, Carol, Amy, Carl, Rick, Lori and Morgan share their thoughts. I've only got one character left! R&R
1. Morales

First of all, his name wasn't Morales. He had told the steroid-addled deputy, Shane, this multiple times over the first few days and had finally given up. None of these people were rocket scientists, and there were more important things at hand. He'd explained to Miranda and the children that they must answer to the name. They had practiced it at night since their lives now depended on it.

He wasn't the only one who had gained a new name, of course. Ted Douglas, the mechanical engineer from Atlanta, had attempted to explain his name to the deaf old man, Dale, who somehow mangled it into T-Dog. Ted got a kick out of his presumed past as a former gang-banger and would occasionally pretend to actually be one. Morales was pretty sure a lot of the lines Ted was using were from The Wire. Ted was philosophical about his stay with the group, too - he had told Morales that he figured he would stick around until he had another group to join (the test would be whether they could get his name straight, he had joked) and then he was gone.

Morales was also getting extremely tired of being ignored when solutions were needed. He had been trying to tell them about the fully stocked camper he found on the other side of the quarry for days now, but something always interrupted them. One time when Shane and Lori were sneaking off to have sex, he was sure that they had noticed that there was a sparkling new, tour bus-sized RV hidden in in a slight cove on the west side of the quarry, but they didn't. It was full of bottled water, tools, MREs and weapons. Clearly someone with survivalist skills had meant to use it to ride out whatever was happening but had been killed before he was able to return. Every time he had attempted to broach the subject, something had happened. One time Jim got his head stuck in a bucket, and another time Amy accidentally set her shoe on fire.

If it hadn't been for the Dixon brothers, he would have completely lost his mind. He thought fondly back to the times that it had been just him, the Dixons and Ted sitting around the campfire late at night, comparing notes about the group. They seemed to do everything wrong. For example, why was Dale, who had broken his glasses weeks ago, still the lookout for the group? Why didn't Andrea and her sister use bait when they were fishing? Did Shane and Lori seriously think no one knew about them? (For God's sake, with the rest of the group's approval, Dale had been doping Carl with benadryl every night because the two of them made such a racket.) Things like that used to crack them up.

One time, though, on a more serious evening, he'd asked the Dixons why they stayed with the group, and the answer he got was that they felt in good conscience that if they left they would be leaving these people to their deaths, and they couldn't walk away from children in need.

Those Dixons were class acts all the way. He felt honored to know them.

The turning point came when he had decided to accompany the group into the city to look for supplies because the last trip they went on had been such a disaster. They had returned with practically nothing and had lost two members of the group. At that time, he had silently cursed Shane's insistence that they raid a Vitamin Shoppe rather than a drug store or, well, pretty much anything. This time Andrea was insisting that they should raid a department store rather than trying the Costco that was on the outskirts of the city. Morales's objections went unnoticed except by Merle, who had worked in the Costco loading dock there during the holidays, so he knew his way around the building pretty well.

Unfortunately for Merle, the group had become convinced that every innocuous statement the man made was a threat of some sort. This was due to a whispering campaign instigated by Shane after Merle had diplomatically suggested that Shane and Lori be more discreet about their trysting. Shane lost it and began to pre-emptively discredit Merle by calling him a racist. Shane even went so far as to tell people that the Tibetan symbol that Merle had carefully painted on his motorcycle was in fact a swastika. It didn't take long before the group believed he was a violent meth-soaked criminal. They had taken to threatening to shoot him whenever he said anything. Merle tried to shake off the cruelty of the other group members, but his friends knew that Merle was terribly hurt. He was especially angry at Shane calling him a drug user. Merle only took baby aspirin and a mild sedative for his social anxiety.

Unsurprisingly, Merle's counsel again went ignored. A defeated Merle started taking the drugs he had brought with him, telling Morales that he was pretty sure those idiots were going to kill him or get him killed and he might as well be in an altered state when it happened. Morales didn't have the heart to point out that the pills Merle took would only relax him and help his heart, not alter his perception. Merle took things to heart, and this group had already hurt him so many times. Morales couldn't blame Merle for deciding to leave the group that afternoon.

With Ted, they had worked out a plan where Merle and Ted would get in a heated fight and Merle would leave the group in an angry huff. When Rick intervened and handcuffed Merle to a pipe on the roof of the department store they were forced to improvise. Ted feigned leaving Merle on the roof because he had "lost" the key to the handcuffs. Merle would then take his chances on his own. The plan was typical Merle, Morales mused. The guy couldn't stand conflict.

He wished Merle's brother had come with them, but Daryl appeared to have an unerring survival instinct in the sense that he was never around when the group was most off the tracks. Just the other day, the group came up with their latest hare-brained scheme, which involved setting off road flares and using a megaphone to get the attention of the authorities. Morales chuckled remembering how Daryl had suddenly claimed to have seen a "flock of cows" walking through the woods and hurried off to hunt them. (Improv wasn't strength for the taciturn younger Dixon.)The others didn't appear to recognize that they were being played, except for Shane, but he was so eager to have private time with Lori that he was glad to see the most observant member of the group gone.

That was in the last place they had camped. They lost 18 people that night. It was at that point that things stopped being remotely funny. It was pretty clear these people were doomed.

His spirits started to lift when he met Rick. The man seemed to be a bit of an idealist for the world they were in, but at least he was practical and a quick thinker, with a natural authority. He also had weapons and a walkie-talkie. Morales returned to the camp feeling more optimistic than he had in days despite the array of useless supplies they were bringing. Morales had brought a tent and Ted found some tarps, but other than that they had nothing of any real value. All Andrea had taken was a necklace for her sister, for example. The elegant blonde had a screw loose – she was constantly pulling guns on people and had actually once tried to shoot the lid off a can of tomato soup rather than use a can opener. He wasn't going to say anything to her, of course, because he didn't want to be shot. Glen, who was a genius at finding things and solving problems, hadn't been able to get anything because he was so busy squeezing through air ducts at the group's behest.

When they got to camp with their ridiculous supplies and a new member of the group, there was a stunned silence, which was broken when Carl yelled, "Daddy!" and threw himself in Rick's arms. Lori followed shortly after, with a quick look at Shane. One look at the expression on Shane's face told Morales everything he needed to know. Over Shane's shoulder he saw Daryl, who was emerging from the woods with a deer on his shoulders. He watched in wry admiration as the hunter dropped the animal at the edge of the camp, turned on his heel, and headed back into the forest before any of the others had noticed his return. The man's instincts never failed him.

When he went back to the camper, he had made his decision. His family was leaving as soon as they could, and they were taking the hidden camper with them. He'd need to put it someplace so they could make a hasty departure at dawn. That would mean he'd need some time away from the group to make sure everything was in order. He mulled it over. Maybe he could pretend to be hunting with Daryl for…snipe? Yeah, this group would fall for that.

He smiled grimly, content that he would be keeping his family safe from this group and the soap opera that was about to unfold. He felt a moment's sadness for Rick. He seemed like a nice guy, but he would be dead within the week if he judged the look of cold rage on Shane's face correctly.

Still, at least he and his family would be safe, and that's what mattered.

He called to the group, "I'm going to help Daryl hunt…uh…" He trailed off, but the group was now focused on the strained Lori/Shane/Rick interaction. Only Dale saw him leave, and called, "Buena suerte!"

Rather than explain for the last time that he did not speak Spanish, he smiled broadly and waved back, saying, "De nada. Vaya con dios. Una paloma blanca."


	2. TDog

SOME TIME LATER:

Shane stepped out of the Morales' empty tent. "Yep, looks like Walkers got them, and then wild animals ate the bones. Mosquitoes probably lapped up the blood. There's not a trace of them left." He looked around for Daryl to validate his theory about wild animals, but the hunter was already making his way deep into the woods, shaking his head.

Dale, who had been studying the ground near the tent, handed a worn wallet to Shane. "What do you make of this? " The name in the wallet was Henry Prukowski, but the face was definitely Morales's. Shane paused to think, finally stating with authority that the entire family had clearly been in witness protection, but had gone back to their real names after the Event.

"Well, this is a loss," said Shane. He glanced at Ted, who looked like he had lost his only friend. "But I'm glad we still have you here with us, man. We'll need your skills and street smarts more than ever." He paused and said, "Who would have imagined that a cop and a gang banger – a hardened felon – would be working together after the world went crazy?"

Ted smiled weakly and offered a half-hearted, "All in the game, yo. All in the game."

Ted shook his head. It looked like he'd be leaving sooner than planned in the armored truck he had been trying unsuccessfully to tell the group about. He had to remember to tell Daryl that Merle had taken off, and where the two brothers could reunite. He'd put a note in Merle's dreamcatcher, which is where the Dixon brothers often put messages to each other.

Ted tried to cheer himself up as he made his way to the armored truck. Maybe he could hook up with the Prukowskis later on. They all really cared for each other, and besides, Prukowski was a doctor.

Also, he really hoped he could find Merle. That guy was a real friend.


	3. Dale

Dale nodded as Shane provided his theory about the Prukowskis' remains being eaten by mosquitoes and wild animals. My God, that man was an idiot.

And that was good.

Dale was a patient man, and a planner. He had claimed the position of lookout and tenaciously held on to it even after he had pretended to break his glasses. This had allowed him to engineer a few…departures, as he liked to call them. A few walkers slip by and oops-no more Amy. No more sister to monopolize Andrea's time. A diuretic in Jim's drink and voila, he gets bitten by a walker due to his weakened state. No possibility Jim would heal his broken heart with the beautiful blonde.

Jacqui had become a friend and confidante for Andrea. This wasn't good. Fortunately, Dale had noted how much the new world was wearing on Jacqui. He figured it would only take a handful of disussions with her to plant the idea in her head to end her life. Dale could be very persuasive.

Daryl was going to be a problem. Underneath all that grime was a handsome man - the women of the camp had said as much to each other in one of their many chats while doing laundry (Dale made sure to listen in to those to gain insight about Andrea's state of mind). Dale had been musing about what motivated Daryl, and he felt that continued treatment as a piece of trash, second-class citizen would go a long way toward alienating the hunter. Dale laughed to himself. Why the group wasn't worshipping the ground Daryl walked on was beyond him. The man had been feeding the group for weeks.

The past few days had been a real blessing, he mused. He had assumed Shane would eventually be killed by a walker during his poorly thought-out heroics. But now with the advent of Rick, the pieces on the chess board had shifted. If Shane killed Rick, he would be outcast from the group. Dale would see to that. If Rick killed Shane, then problem solved. As a bonus, he could blackmail Lori into being an ally in his quest to win Andrea.

Shane was looking like less of a threat all the time. And with the departure of Merle, Morales and hopefully T-Dog, Dale had culled the herd significantly. And none of them had any idea that he had been behind it all.

Dale patted the pocket containing his glasses with satisfaction. Considering that the dead had come to life, things were going pretty well.


	4. Glenn

Glenn was always tired. He didn't know how much longer he could keep it up.

Putting out fires for this group was a full-time job, and a surprisingly dangerous one. On any given day, Glenn would save at least a half-dozen lives, and that was a conservative estimate. A few weeks ago, he had heard Lori tell Amy that the only way to identify toxic mushrooms was by eating them. Glenn's carefully worded subsequent questions about how to identify safe mushrooms had quickly revealed Lori's defensiveness, and her profound confusion about the subject. (He couldn't blame her for the lack of clear-headedness, considering how little sleep she got. Shane seemed to be insatiable.) Fortunately, Glenn knew that the poison mushrooms that grew in this region grew only on the north side of coniferous trees, so he spent the next few nights pulling up every one he saw within 500 yards of the camp. He'd also offered to cook just in case some slipped through.

It had been this way from the very beginning. He had met the group when they were hiding in an abandoned elementary school. When they acted shocked that he had found them despite the fact that they had left the doors and windows open and were cooking bacon, he realized he was dealing with a group of people who were at extremely high risk of getting themselves killed.

At first Glenn had tried to be straightforward and make his suggestions directly to the parties involved. After all, his old friends had nicknamed him McGuyver because of his ability to find solutions for a huge array of problems. However, the people at camp seemed absolutely determined to do things their way, and were actively threatened by anyone who tried to suggest a better way of doing things. In a different situation, he would say, "screw them" and move on. However, he knew that these people would all be dead, including their children. So he found himself playing the role of an easygoing dimwit who allowed himself to be directed by the self-appointed leaders in the group, but who was in reality circumventing the group's most deadly plans.

Sooner or later he'd need to confide in someone. He'd like to tell Rick, but considering that Lori was one of the worst offenders (her solutions routinely involved something that defied the laws of physics), he wasn't sure how Rick would react. . He figured it would probably be Daryl, since he was pretty damn sure that Daryl was on to him. He had been in the middle of converting the RV to solar power one night when he became aware that the hunter had been standing behind him, watching him. Glenn pretended to be sleepwalking, but he knew that Daryl wasn't buying it.

He also remembered that one time Daryl had asked him what he did prior to the end of the world. He'd answered "pizza delivery," but Daryl had merely looked at him through narrowed eyes. Technically, it was the truth. He was in charge of PETESA, but that was actually an acronym for the government's top-secret Program for Elite Transportation, Engineering and Science Advancement. Glenn had been recruited at 11 when his IQ had been tested at over 200. 

Ever since Glenn had dodged that bullet, Daryl occasionally would say, out of nowhere, "Pizza delivery, huh?" as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. Very little got by Daryl, it was clear.

Other than Daryl, though, he hadn't been able to take the any sort of measure of his campmates, in large part because he was constantly springing into action to prevent the group from killing themselves. That lack of insight meant he often was left trying to piece together what happened, or that he had to work double time to prevent a disaster. Most recently, he had been shimmying down an elevator shaft during the last trip to the department store, so he still didn't understand what had happened with Merle. Something seemed odd, but he just didn't have time to pursue it.

He felt so alone sometimes. He knew that Merle, Morales, T-Dog and Daryl had some sort of late-night campfire coffee klatch going on, but that was the key time for him to do things like surreptitiously repairing the RV to undo the damage that Dale had done with his tinkering. (Most recently, it appeared that Dale had accidentally diverted the RV's exhaust to the interior of the vehicle, nearly killing Jackie, who slept there, in the process.) It was a shame that he couldn't compare notes with the men, especially T-Dog, who, like Glenn, was a concrete thinker who understood how things worked. Glenn thought that it was a real shame that T-Dog had been forced into a life of crime, because the man would have made an excellent engineer or inventor.

He shook his head ruefully as he began designing a makeshift water purification system for the group. (He could see that looming as an issue since the group never thought to check water for contamination no matter how many times Glenn had pointed out that there were likely to be walkers thrashing around in lakes and streams.)Yes, he was probably a genius, but how useful was that when he couldn't get this group of people to listen to anything he said?


	5. Merle

Merle sighed to himself as he drove out of Atlanta in the group's van. He hoped that whoever had driven it would eventually learn why he had taken it.

He'd had a very good reason. As he escaped the department store, he had encountered a group of men who were taking care of senior citizens who'd been abandoned in a nursing home. Merle was on foot and couldn't really help them (although he gave them his bottle of baby aspirin), but he had vowed to himself that if he could ever help those people, he would. When he found the van on his way out of town, he knew this was the opportunity. He had distracted the walkers by creating small explosions a few blocks away, and then when the coast was clear, he loaded up the van with all the residents and their caretakers.

He heard a faint whimper from the back of the van and smiled. When he came back with the van to pick up the nursing home residents, he had noticed that one of their adorable Chihuahuas was clearly pregnant and about to whelp. He had delayed departure while he helped deliver the puppies. They were now in the back of the van being nursed by their mother.

Merle had to admit that he was angry that the group always thought the worst about him. However, he was glad that he could find something more positive to focus on. No point in dwelling on it. There were more important things than Merle Dixon's hurt feelings, after all. He would find a truly safe place for these old people and their courageous guardians. Once they were safe, he'd return to camp to see if he could persuade Prukowski to help him tend to them.

He imagined how happy the Prukowski children would be to play with a litter of adorable puppies. The residents of the nursing home had said jokingly that if Merle could get them out of Atlanta, he could name the entire litter. Merle knew they were kidding, but he hoped he could at least name the little crabby-looking one Daryl.


	6. Jacqui

Jacqui stared out the window as the car made its way to the CDC. So this was her life.

She'd had a great life before – ensconced as a mid-level bureaucrat, working reasonable hours and with a lot of time for her active and varied social life. Now she was terrified and hungry all the time, stuck with people she was already sick of. In particular, there was one part of her social life that was really lacking.

She'd hooked up with Jim a few days after the group had come together, but he had gotten boring with his constant boo-hooing about his wife and family. It had gotten so bad that she almost smiled with relief as she left him under the shady tree after kissing his cheek lingeringly.

There weren't a lot of other candidates in the camp. Shane and Rick were obsessed with Lori (what they saw in that scarecrow she could not tell), Glenn was practically a child, Morales was married (Jacqui didn't want to deal with complications) and T-Dog had shown no interest in her flirtatious overtures. That left the Dixons and Dale.

Merle Dixon wasn't all what she expected. When she had put some very mild moves on him, he had stated very earnestly that the body was a temple and it should not be desecrated by casual sex. Well, she was NOT interested in his mind, so that was out. Merle's brother was cute but every time she tried to get near him he seemed to disappear.

Dale, of course, only had eyes for Andrea, which was problematic. Jacqui had been slowly trying to figure out which team Andrea played for. Unfortunately, Dale always seemed to be watching Andrea like a hawk (he even kind of looked like a hawk), and he always seemed to be there whenever she tried to have a tete-a-tete with Andrea. It was hard enough figuring out what team Andrea played for. Either way, she figured she would make her move when they got to the CDC.

She shook her head. She could do without air conditioning, she could do without Internet, but she couldn't live much longer without some action that didn't involve bashing walkers' heads in. Things were getting really desperate.


	7. Jim

Jim almost felt guilty about what he had done. Almost. However, desperate times called for desperate measures.

The night after the massacre at the campsite, he had made a decision. He would leave the group. He was tired of the drama and he had to admit, Dale was starting to creep him out. Always hovering around, talking about Andrea. It was weird. And Jim didn't understand why Dale had asked him to start digging those holes and then suddenly acted like it was Jim's idea. When he tried to protest and explain, Shane had put him in a stranglehold and made him sit under a tree for several hours.

He'd given up trying to communicate with these people.

After some pillow talk and planning, he and Jacqui had come up with a plan. She would tell the group that he was bitten and draw the others' attention to it. Then he would act like he wanted to be left there to die.

Of course problems had arisen. He hadn't counted on so many of the group members being around when Jacqui started screaming. He had created a wound using some leftover ham and jelly from the morning's breakfast, but it wouldn't stand close inspection. Fortunately, Daryl had charged him and threatened to shoot him in the head, thus blocking his wound from the others. He thought it was weird that Daryl didn't comment on the fact that his wound was actually made out of luncheon meat. Daryl's intervention allowed Rick to go into typical misguided superhero mode and hustle Jim away from the group and into the camper so the group could talk about what to do with him. (These people had a lot of opinions about other people's lives, which is one of the reasons why Jim wanted to leave.)

He did not plan on Rick trying to take him to the CDC to be cured. Seriously? He was going to drive him all the way to Atlanta on the off chance that there was a cure that hadn't been implemented? He would have to persuade Rick that he wanted to die in dignity. With Jacqui's help, he had managed to persuade Rick that he wanted to be left by the side of the road under a shady tree.

He smiled as Jacqui kissed his cheek tenderly. He would miss Jacqui. She had been a comfort during those early weeks, but he had recently gotten the sense that she was interested in other men at the camp. She would get over his loss pretty quickly.

He had a moment of fear when he noticed that ants and bees were beginning to swarm around the site of his wound, and another when a pack of stray dogs had started licking at his shirt trying to get at the ham. However, no one seemed to notice.

The others in the group said their goodbyes. Dale was practically cackling with glee. Jim couldn't help feeling that he'd had a narrow escape as far as Dale was concerned. Rick was solemn, as usual. He was a very nice man, but a bit dim, to say the least. Poor guy didn't stand a chance in the long run.

He watched as they turned away and walked back to the caravan. Daryl was the last to leave. He nodded at Jim. There was something knowing in Daryl's eyes that made him worry that the hunter was on to him. He comforted himself with the fact that Daryl was not the type of person to intervene.

He decided against waving as the group drove away. He didn't want to look too healthy and have Rick drag him along to the CDC. They were still going there, which seemed ridiculous to him. They'd probably end up there at nightfall, for God's sake! Well, they weren't his problem anymore.

He idly fed the ham to the dozen or so dogs who had surrounded him. The Prukowskis would be here soon to pick him up, as planned.


	8. Morgan

Morgan looked around, pleased at the life he would now be able to have with his son. A clear-cut mountaintop, a house with a generator, an arsenal of weapons, a well and enough supplies to last for ten years, he estimated. This place was like a fortress. There was even a smokehouse filled with what seemed like an enormous number of animal carcasses. He doubted he'd be trying any of those, since he had no idea how to tell if the meat was still safe, and he didn't have a taste for opossum and other small animals. Still, thank God for militia members. Those guys had been expecting this for years. Well, maybe not _this_.

He took a look around the place. It was spotless, and quite homey, actually. The owners clearly were proud of what they had made. There was also an impressive selection of books, although some of them were on subjects he had little interest in, like taxidermy. He looked around the house more, trying to figure out who had owned this place. One of the rooms appeared to be a bedroom, but it didn't have a bed, just a bed-sized straw mat. It looked like there was a Buddhist shrine on the dresser, but otherwise the room was pretty much empty. It appeared there had once been clothes in the closet, but now all that remained was what looked like…monk's robes? He was having a tough time reading this one. The other bedroom was more what he expected – there was clutter, a video game console, books and a few framed photos. One of the photos stood out – two men posing with hunting equipment. It looked like they were about to set out on an expedition. The familiar way the older man wrapped his arm around the younger one made him think that they were relatives. They both had the same heavily lidded blue eyes. Brothers, maybe. Or father and son, although they didn't look like more than a decade separated them.

Maybe they were educated mountain men of some sort. That would make sense. In addition to an impressive collection of the works of Rumi, the thirteenth-century mystic poet, there was some serious weaponry in this house, including some really lethal-looking knives. It looked like the younger man in the picture had some sort of mechanized bow and arrow thingamajig that looked pretty lethal. (Morgan's life as a college professor in comparative literature had not provided him with any sort of knowledge in this area.) However, he'd found no sign of it anywhere in the house, so he assumed the man had taken it with him.

He took a minute to wonder what might happen if the mountain men came back. It seemed like a longshot, but considering how prepared the two men were, and how experienced with weapons, he couldn't rule it out entirely. They looked like survivors. He wasn't that worried, though. He had a feeling they were reasonable men. After all, one of them was a Buddhist – weren't they supposed to be non-violent?

He thanked his lucky stars that he had decided not to look for Rick Grimes. He had tried for days to answer Rick's transmissions but had received no response. He had finally realized that the man was using the radio for some sort of rambling monologue and then immediately turning the radio off. At first Morgan was irritated that Rick didn't seem to get the idea of two-way communication. However, irritation soon gave way to compassion; the poor guy had clearly snapped and was living in an alternate reality. Nothing Rick was saying could possibly be true. No group of people could be that stupid and survive. It would be funny if it weren't so tragic.


	9. Carol

Carol poked her head out of the tent and looked around. Ed had died last night and she could honestly say she was devastated.

A few days ago she had decided she couldn't take it anymore. The dead were walking, it was probably the end of days, and she was STILL getting beaten and abused by her husband. Well, not any more. No one was going to hurt her again, or bully her, EVER again.

She had decided Ed was going to die in his sleep, helped along by the application of a pillow to his face. She had planned to ask Lori if she could take Sophia so she and Ed could have some couple time. Then she'd drug him with some pills she had gotten from Merle Dixon and finish him off. Merle had said that the pills were really strong and could knock out an ox. (Dear sweet Merle. He had recommended meditation instead.) She'd say Ed had heart problems. No one would care.

She had been so happy she had to stop herself from skipping back to the campsite.

Instead, the walkers ended up doing the job for her.

The others had mistaken her tears of disappointment that morning for genuine grief, and she could tell they thought even less of her than before. It didn't bother her on a personal level, but she could tell that Shane Walsh would be quick to jettison anyone he perceived as weak if things got bad. All he cared about was Lori and Carl, that much was clear.

She'd only been able to redeem herself in the eyes of one member of the group, and that was entirely by accident.

She had been watching her fellow campers put the bodies of the dead in a pile, and saw Daryl Dixon starting the laborious process of sticking a pickax into each person's brain. She had recognized Ed's lumpy corpse and had made a decision. She had asked Daryl to give her the tool.

After that, her memory was a bit blurry. She didn't know how long she had spent destroying Ed's head and brain. The sun appeared to be in a different position in the sky, so probably a while. Then after she was done, she seemed to remember spitting on his remains, and it was remotely possible that she had done a small dance that ended with her spiking the pickax like a football player who had just scored a touchdown. It was also remotely possible that she had screamed, "How do you like me now, bitch?" at the pulpy remains of her husband's head. And now that she thought of it, it was possible that she had done a few other things, too.

After it was done, she had seen Daryl staring at her with a look she couldn't fathom – fear? Respect? Maybe, attraction? She couldn't imagine him being one of those men who liked women to beat them up. If he did have those leanings, she knew he would have already hooked up with Andrea, who appeared to have major anger issues.

Anyway, Daryl was cute, but Merle was the Dixon she felt most comfortable with – he was so sweet and gentle. If she ever got involved with another man, it would be someone like Merle.


	10. Amy

Amy was living a nightmare in a world full of them.

It had started about a month ago when a strange woman pulled her into the trunk of her car and drove her away from the kindergarten where she was teaching. This was around the time the world went to hell, so her departure had gone unnoticed.

"Andrea" had been holding her prisoner for weeks now, calling her Amy and making her go everywhere with her. She told people that they didn't know each other that well because of the age difference, and that although she wouldn't have wanted these circumstances, she was happy for the chance to get to know her baby sister. Didn't this sound weird to anyone else? Did anyone notice that the two of them shared NO common memories? What about the way Andrea acted? Her obsession with weaponry?

Amy had tried confiding in Shane, because he was a police officer, but the result had been disastrous. The second she brought up Andrea's name, Shane interrupted her, saying although her sister was very pretty, he was a one-woman man now. He had avoided her ever since. The rest of the people seemed too caught up in their own issues to pay any attention to anyone else.

She had hoped to confide in one of the Dixon brothers – they seemed observant and unlikely to fall for Andrea's lines. Unfortunately Andrea had convinced everyone else that Amy wasn't safe around them because Merle Dixon would try to rape her, so not only was her captor watching her, the rest of the camp members also made sure to divert her whenever she made her way toward the brothers' tents.

In the silence of the camper, she took a deep breath. It was time to end this. She looked around for something she could use, but then heard rustling outside the door. It was probably her captor, waiting for her. When she recognized the familiar stench, however, she knew it was a walker and rejoiced. She opened the door and proffered her wrist but the walker was already lurching down to Ed Peletier's tent. This would not do. Glancing around Dale's makeshift kitchen, she grabbed the meat tenderizer and poured it on her arms and legs, following it with a liberal dose of barbecue sauce. Then she ran toward the crowd of walkers making their way to camp. Finally, it was over.


	11. Carl

Carl was beginning to suspect that something strange was going on. First all of the dead people walking around, which was strange because it was exactly like those drawings he used to do in school, before his mom got him the special pills. Second, his mom was always going off with Uncle Shane and telling him to go stay with someone from the camp. What his mom didn't seem to understand or care about was that the people she was telling him to say with hadn't been with the camp for days or even weeks. Sometimes she would just wrap a scarf around a tree and try and convince Carl that he should stay with his Uncle Tree-Dog. It got to the point that he never saw his mom anymore, except at night, and he was always so tired that he fell asleep before she finished saying good night to him. He always dozed off around the time she said, "now Mama's gonna get her some." He didn't know what "some" was. Probably mushrooms.

Carl knew he wasn't like other kids. Even before all this happened, strange things happened around him, like the time one of his teachers jumped out the window of the school screaming, "Look at me, Carl! It's all for you!" The only person who understood him was his dad, who was always so loving to him and explained why he needed to lock Carl in his room at night to prevent him from roaming. Now his dad was gone and it was just his mom and Uncle Shane. Uncle Shane always wanted him to go play in the woods.

Carl liked the freedom, but he missed his dad, who never let him out of his sight. Ever. It was like his dad knew that something bad was eventually going to happen. He remembered his dad saying something to his mom about Carl coming from some beauty salon (Demon Spa, he think his dad said) and how they needed to watch him constantly. And look, his dad was right. Something bad had happened, except this time Carl wasn't responsible, which made him sad. Being responsible was good. His mom and dad were always saying he was responsible for something: the state of their marriage; the missing animals in the neighborhood; and the strange symbols painted on the walls of the house. He didn't remember doing those things, but he was used to not remembering long stretches of time anyway.

He vowed that he would make Uncle Shane proud, and if his dad ever came back, he'd make sure that he, Mom, Dad and Uncle Shane would be one big happy family. Carl would be responsible for that.


	12. Rick

Rick sighed. He and Lori had always had problems communicating, but recently it had gotten worse.

He remembered, vaguely, Lori sitting by his bed in the hospital, holding his hand and saying all sorts of strange things. That he wasn't really a police officer, just a member of the local neighborhood watch. That he had no business being in that shootout. That he would have been in a lot of trouble if it weren't for Shane persuading the authorities not to prosecute him.

He remembered her raising her voice, and telling him to listen to her, that the doctors said he was conscious and that he had just asked the nurse what was for lunch. He wondered sadly why she was so very angry. Lunch was important, after all.

More memories came back to him, hazily. She was trying to get him to leave with her and Carl. Something about the dead coming back to life and that she would be hiding out in the mountains where they always camped, about a mile from their house.

He remembered Shane coming in, later, and trying to get him to leave. He liked Shane. He was a good friend. When Shane put his head to Rick's chest, Rick held his breath so he could say, "Boo!" and scare his buddy. But then Rick noticed a shiny object in the corner of the room and became distracted, so he forgot to scare Shane. He comforted himself that at least when he found them in the mountains, that Shane definitely looked frightened.


	13. Lori

Lori frowned as she made her way into the woods to look for mushrooms. Things had gotten much more complicated since Rick got back. She had been able to sneak off with Shane with regularity, but was always afraid that Rick would wise up, or someone would tell him.

She was so, so, tired, too. Shane was always amorous, it seemed, and now that Rick was also on the rotation she never got a moment to eat. As she got more tired, her excuses for leaving the group to spend time with Shane had become lazier and lazier. The last time she simply shouted, "Look! A balloon!" and made a break for it. When she returned, it was clear that Rick had spent hours looking around for it. However, even Rick wouldn't believe that there were stray balloons floating around every day.

She couldn't keep up this pace much longer. She had tried to lighten the load, so to speak, by trying to interest Andrea in Shane or Rick. For weeks (Or was it days? Time seemed to pass so strangely now.), she had been constantly praising the two men for their manliness and saying what good providers they were, and confiding much fun it was to do their laundry; if anything, this seemed to alienate Andrea.

Damn. Andrea had seemed like such a good bet; after all, the woman was a knockout, and both Rick and Shane were pretty nice-looking. She took a moment to muse about how funny it was that such a good-looking bunch of men had all survived the zombie apocalypse. Shane had the body of a Greek god, Rick had the soulful eyes of a teen idol, and Daryl, well, the man could have been a model.

However, Andrea clearly had no interest in any of the men and didn't care much for Lori. She also had clearly made an enemy of Dale, who had "accidentally" nearly driven over her in the camper. (Lori had become suspicious around the fifth time she had dodged the RV.) She had eventually cut a deal with Dale: he would provide her with more Benadryl so she could dope Rick up so he would sleep through Shane's nighttime visits, and she would put in a good word for Dale with Andrea.

It wasn't a perfect solution, but it would do, and it gave her a valuable ally. After all, Lori thought, she couldn't afford to make any enemies at camp. Also, Dale appeared to have valuable skills in persuasion; he had clearly studied hypnosis, if the books in the camper were any indication. She didn't have any time to actually read the books, but it appeared that it consisted primarily of using a bug-eyed, unblinking stare when he talked to people. Lori could certainly do that.


	14. Gorgos

**This is perhaps the chapter that sheds the most light on any survivor.**

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><p>Gorgos angrily stabbed at the eggs Lori had proferred. How DARE Lori try to interest Gorgos in one of those inferior male specimens? Although outwardly strong, the two men of law, Rick and Shane, were clearly mentally pitiful (although Gorgos had no pity for the weak). Gorgos had spent days trying to figure out their style of waging war, only to realize that these men were not the leaders of the world they inhabited, they were fools only slightly more able than the human husks the others called walkers.<p>

Daryl the Hunter interested Gorgos. He was clearly a good fighter and might be a suitable mate; however, Gorgos's attempts to interest him had gone unnoticed, although Gorgos had used the exact mating rituals employed by the one called Lori on her male chattel – mocking him for his incompetence and regularly soaking his clothing in water in some sort of ritual Gorgos had yet to understand.

How long had Gorgos been in this human body? It was difficult to tell how much time had passed. The time frame of this world was still a mystery. Certainly it was an inopportune time for Gorgos the Fearsome to be reincarnated. However, great leaders would thrive in any circumstances, and Gorgos would take this time to learn the ways of this world and its weaponry, and then achieve total dominance.

The time at camp with this human refuse could still produce some important lessons. Although attempts to learn from the one called Amy, selected for her physical resemblance to Gorgos's human body, had failed, there were a few others of merit in the camp in addition to Daryl the Hunter. The Old Man was cunning and perhaps a necromancer; Gorgos would need to take the measure of him before deciding whether to let him live or die. Gorgos suspected that the Dog Man also had great powers of mind control. Gorgos had attempted to learn more about Dog Man from the others at the camp, it was clear that their minds had been wiped clean of all knowledge of their fellow camper as if from some powerful magic.


	15. Shane

**I've only got one more Season One character to go after this. Please read and review.**

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><p>Rick was going to get them all killed. That's what no one else understood.<p>

Shane knew he had his problems. He wasn't very smart. (He had just barely passed the IQ test to become a policeman.) He had a temper. He could be a little impulsive.

He had another, more embarrassing problem, too. His shirt was constantly coming off. He could have sworn that something was happening to his clothes when they were being washed because all of the seams and buttons on his shirts were constantly breaking. He knew Carol spent a long time on the laundry, and she had problems enough. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her that if she was trying to make his shirts fall off on purpose she couldn't have done a worse job. And also, did she not know that you didn't need a seam ripper to clean things?

But even with his stupidity, anger issues and tear-away wardrobe, compared to Rick, Shane had it all under control. Rick, on the other hand, was an albacore around the necks of the people who knew him.

Don't get him wrong, he loved Rick like a brother. But for years he had cleaned up after Rick, and when it finally seemed like Shane was done with that, the world had gone crazy. But still, it was better than watching out for Rick. Walkers didn't pretend to be police officers and turn a day in traffic school into a high-speed chase. Walkers didn't have creepy pale little sons who liked to set fire to things.

He couldn't believe how fast the group made him their leader. Didn't any of them realize that the name Rick used, Officer Friendly, was not a real person? But no, something about Rick's green eyes and calm sincerity made them think that he had all the answers.

Some of this was Rick's typical dumb luck, but some of it must have that the group just didn't want to know.

In the dumb luck department, the group hadn't seen Rick accidentally send a fully equipped armored truck to the bottom of the quarry. The group also hadn't seen Rick throw in Daryl's motorcycle keys after the truck to see if this would somehow make the truck come back. Only Shane had been around for that.

On the "just didn't want to know" side, the group also hadn't noticed something about Rick that Shane thought would have registered quickly on them. Hadn't they noticed that after Rick showed up, people started dying? The human toll was staggering. When Rick first got back, he had already killed Merle (or at least it sounded like Merle was as good as dead), but within a day, 40 percent of their camp was dead. Now that he thought of it, that was around Rick's kill rate prior to the dead coming to life.

But none of that would matter to the group. They just loved Rick. The others had never rallied around Shane like that. It seemed like most of them disliked him. It would have been worse if they knew that Shane and Lori had been having sex. Thank God they had been discreet.

Lori.

Shane shook his head. God, he was stuck with her, wasn't he? He had hooked up with her one night and before he knew it, he was supposed to be her life partner. That would have been OK, but for two things. The first is that he was having trouble keeping up with her. The woman wanted sex constantly. The second is that he wasn't really that attracted to her. He was going to have to break into a pharmacy and get some more Viagra soon. He had already run out of the two bottles they had gotten on last week's supply run.

He consoled himself that by staying with Lori, he could keep an eye on Carl, who worried him. Lori had to be the most negligent parent he had ever seen, and Carl was capable of doing a lot of damage in a short period of time.

He felt a moment of sadness. Since the beginning, he had harbored a secret crush on someone in the camp. He found Carol's delicate features, petite frame and big blue eyes very appealing. And boy, there was just something about watching her soapy arms and hands as she did laundry that really did it for him. However, she was married, and Shane was not one to intentionally break up a marriage.

That just wasn't going to happen, and he needed to accept it. And maybe Lori would grow on him. There was something about the way she looked at him recently, with her eyes wide open, never blinking. He almost couldn't look away when she did that.

He dropped to the ground for another 100 pushups. If he burned his stress by exercising, maybe he could avoid the feeling that it would be better if Rick were dead. That kind of thinking wouldn't help anyone. And besides, he could honestly say that he was in the best shape of his life. If only his friends in Weight Watchers could see him now.


End file.
